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UCLA Busted in Farrah Snooping Scandal

A UCLA Medical Center employee has been "disciplined" after going through Farrah Fawcett's medical records.

A UCLA spokesperson told the AP that Farrah expressed concern about her privacy last May and had her doctor look into it. Upon investigation by the executive in charge of patient privacy, one UCLA employee was found responsible for snooping -- and fired, according to the L.A. Times, which first broke the story.

No word on any further disciplinary actions taken against the employee. UCLA has not confirmed the firing, but they have released a statement:

"UCLA Health System considers patient confidentiality a critical part of our mission of teaching, research and patient care. All staff members are required to sign confidentiality agreements as a condition of their employment and complete extensive training on HIPAA-related privacy and security issues. We have stringent policies to protect patient confidentiality and address violations of those policies.

"When possible confidentiality breaches arise, UCLA immediately launches an investigation and appropriate disciplinary action would then be initiated. Due to the confidential nature of both patient and personnel issues, no further information is available.

"The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides national standards to protect the security and privacy of a patient's health information."